I am going to get a smile makeover. I’m deciding between two dentists and two procedures and wondered if you can help me narrow things down. For my smile makeover, I’m either getting porcelain veneers or dental bonding. I’ve been looking on Yelp for the dentist and two of them nearby have 5 stars. Is there anything I can do to choose between the two of them?
Brittney
Dear Brittney,
I’m very glad you wrote. The first thing I am going to say is don’t choose your cosmetic dentist from Yelp! While it is a great resource and I use it myself for things, such as finding a plumber or restaurant, it does not work as well for the nuanced search you are needing. Whether you look up cosmetic dentists or just dentists you will get similar results. That is because Yelp! bases their rankings on the stars people give the dentist and not the procedures written about. Someone could be listed as the top cosmetic dentist because they have a friendly staff and people love going there rather than on the beauty of their cosmetic work.
If you are looking for a cosmetic dentist, I would first look to see if they have a smile gallery on their website. If they don’t, you can know right away that they do not do cosmetic work well, or even at all. Second, is that work beautiful? You don’t want to think, “that looks okay.” You want to be blown away. If that is the case, then I would call the office and take the precaution of finding out if the smile gallery is the result of work the dentist did themselves or just stock photos.
Bonding Versus Veneers
Dental Bonding is typically done for small repairs, such as for chipped teeth or closing a small tooth gap. This is because it has to be done freehand. If you are looking for a total smile makeover, you will want porcelain veneers. It would take too long to do dental bonding that way and would end up costing you more because of the time the dentist would have to invest in sculpting everything. Plus, veneers will last much longer.
I hope this helps.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.
As to whether to get dental bonding or porcelain veneers, I can be more specific.